A SRI Lankan Tamil refugee who has spent almost three years in immigration detention was being held illegally because there was no ''reasonable prospect'' of another country agreeing to resettle him, the High Court was told yesterday. Lawyers for the refugee, known only as M47, said the Australian government had accepted that there was a ''real chance'' that he would be tortured, killed or abducted if returned to Sri Lanka. Richard Niall SC, for M47, argued that this case was different because the Sri Lankan was owed protection under Australia's treaty obligations and because Australia's detention regime had changed since 2004. [ full story ]